


lights will guide you home

by rocketshiptospace



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-16
Updated: 2014-08-16
Packaged: 2018-02-13 11:18:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2148741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rocketshiptospace/pseuds/rocketshiptospace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Calum just wishes something would happen for once. It wouldn’t even have to be anything big, just something that will make a fun story at the Christmas dinner table. Something that will remind him why he likes this town, why he likes his job. Something that reminds him what it’s like to live.</i>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>or, Calum's a mechanic, Michael is a rock star and their lives colide when Michael's tour bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere.</p>
            </blockquote>





	lights will guide you home

**Author's Note:**

> there was a demand for more malum fic in the malum tag and i have wanted to write this since forever so i was like LETS DO THIS so here you go
> 
> just imagine calum looking like [this](http://skatertotluke.tumblr.com/post/93214175974) and michael looking like [this](https://31.media.tumblr.com/f0be7032bd23d39dc290c3f83b259eae/tumblr_mudab3mCCp1spnagto1_500.gif)

Calum’s life is pretty ok, all things considered.

He’s not the world famous musician or professional football player he dreamt of being when he was a kid, nor did he get out of the shitty small town he grew up in, but oh well. You can’t have everything.

Besides, he has a job, an apartment, and he makes enough money to not having to worry about paying the rent.

The job’s pretty good too. He’s a mechanic at the local garage, something he has been doing since he was sixteen and needed a job. He needed the money back then, to save up for a computer. All his friends had one and his mother told him he could get one, but he would have to pay for it himself.

The computer is long gone now, replaced by a newer, faster model, but Calum still has the job. He has worked his way up now, though. When he started off he mostly just worked at the front desk, occasionally helping out in the actual shop, but now he’s one of the best mechanics they have. Granted, all the mechanics are over fifty and don’t have a really great physique, meaning Calum’s the only one who can get under the cars with ease to see what’s wrong, but still. He’s been doing this for over five years, he’d like to think he’s pretty decent at it.

The reason all the personnel except Calum is over fifty is because most of the youth doesn’t stick around this town. They leave, get the fuck out of there as soon as they can. Calum doesn’t blame them.

So, it’s good. It’s all good.

Except, well. It’s a bit boring, that’s all.

He’s twenty-one, has been living in this shitty hell hole of a town since the day he was born, has been working at the garage for over five years, and honestly, it’s getting boring.

It’s always the same customers, just some people from around town he has known all his life. They come in for their yearly checkups, maybe a few scratches, sometimes a broken head light or a flat tire. When he’s lucky, he’ll have something bigger like a broken engine, something that will at least take him longer than half an hour.

Sometimes, during the summer holiday, tourists will come in, stranded on the abandoned roads around the town. Often they’re just simple cases of overheating, but Calum likes it nonetheless. He’ll often have the time to strike up conversation with these tourists. They’ll tell him about the cool places they’ve been and he loves hearing about that.

He wishes he could do that, sometimes. Just pack up and leave. Leave everything behind and just get the fuck out of there and see the world. But something’s always holding him back, whether it’s the lack of friends to go with him or his bank account (because unfortunately ‘enough money to pay the rent’ does not mean ‘filthy stinking rich’). No matter what it is, he never ponders about it too long.

He just wishes something would happen for once. It wouldn’t even have to be anything big, just something that will make a fun story at the Christmas dinner table. Something that will remind him why he likes this town, why he likes his job. Something that reminds him what it’s like to _live._

\--

His wish gets granted only a few days later, on a slow Thursday afternoon.

The morning had been hectic, people walking in and out, but now there’s barely anyone there, so his boss had sent Calum out to sweep the parking lot.

It’s something that’s long overdue, since the parking lot is literally covered in cigarette buds, sandwich wrappings and other junk. Calum looks at it with a sigh. This might take awhile.

It’s hot too, the sun blaring down on him as he stands in the shadow-free parking lot and he’s already feeling the sweat run down his back.

So he unzips his blue overalls and ties the sleeves around his waist, so now he’s just in the overall pants and a simple white tank top. Well, the tank top’s not really white anymore, mostly just covered in black smears of grease, just like his overall and his face.

He probably looks like an absolute mess, covered in grease and sweat, but he doesn’t really care. There’s literally no one around to observe him in this state, no one to impress, so he shrugs it off and starts swiping the lot.

He’s been sweeping for awhile, slowly working his way through the parking lot, when he hears a horrible, absolutely _gruesome_ screeching noise. Calum has been working at the garage long enough to know it comes from some kind of car, and the noise almost hurts his heart more than his ears. Someone out there is not treating his vehicle with the love and care it deserves.

The noise gets louder and louder, obviously nearing the garage and Calum curiously peeks around to see if he can spot the culprit yet and oh.

All right.

The horrible noise making machine turns out to be nothing more than a _giant_ bus, that rounds the corner and comes to a screeching stop right on the parking lot. The bus is all black, with tinted windows and all and Calum immediately knows what it is.

This is not a normal bus. This is a tour bus.

He doesn’t really particularly care for celebrities, the music he listens to is all from artist that probably wouldn’t even consider traveling to Australia, so it’s probably not someone he knows. He’s still curious though, because it’s not often you see a tour bus in his home town.

Actually, he’s pretty sure this is the first time he’s seen one in real life.

The driver turns off the motor and the horrible screeching noise stops. Calum’s not sure what’s causing the noise, but whatever it is, it’s not going to be a five minute job. It sounds pretty serious. While he’s mentally going through a list of things that could cause such a racket, the doors of the bus slide open and two guys tumble out.

One of them is a short blond guy in jeans and a short sleeved button up and appears to be the driver of the bus. The other is a bit taller and wearing a suit. Calum momentarily wonders if that’s the celebrity occupying the bus.

They look around and the minute they spot Calum, who is still standing in the middle of the parking lot with the broom in his hands, they rush toward him.

“Kid, you work here?” The guy in the suit asks, rather crudely. Calum nods.

The second he does they both start talking at the same time and it all becomes a jumbled mess of words and hand gestures and Calum has no idea what’s going on.

He does catch on to the fact that the blond guy seems to have an Irish accent, but it’s so thick it sounds like he’s speaking another language and all Calum picks up is ‘was ok when we left’ and ‘all of the sudden’.

The guy in the suit seems to be in the middle of explaining that they’re on a tight schedule and that they’re in a hurry, when the door of the bus opens again and a third guy steps out.

And _hello there._

The guy is hot. The guy is like really, _really_ hot.

He’s basically sex on legs, with his black skinny jeans and Greenday tank top and leather jacket and black, messy hair. He’s like, exactly Calum’s type and Calum has a hard time trying not to drool when he walks their way.

“Hello,” the stranger casually says when he’s reached them, and the other two guys immediately shut up.

From up close, Calum can see the light stubble on his cheeks and his piercing green eyes and he’s doing some sort of half smile in Calum’s direction and _oh god._

“Hi,” Calum squeaks, forever cursing his inability to talk when hot guys are involved.

“I’m sorry for these guys falling over you like that, they’re a bit stressed,” hot guy says, gesturing towards the two other guys, who look a bit sheepish, “Anyway, I’m Michael.” He extends his hand in Calum’s direction for him to shake.

Calum tries to wipe his greasy hands on his tank top, but he only ends up making it worse and apologetically holds up his hands towards Michael. Michael seems to understand and lowers his hands with a smile. “I’m Calum,” Calum says, slightly ashamed when he realizes he’s literally looking like he’s just been dragged  through a motor oil bath in front of the hottest guy on the planet.

“Well, Calum, could you maybe help us out here? Assuming you work here, of course,” Michael says and Calum nods.

“Yeah, I yeah, I work here, I can help you.” He stutters over his sentence a bit and he probably sounds a bit too eager but can you really blame him when the hottest guy on the surface is talking to him.

“Great! So, as these two have tried to explain,” Michael gestures at the other two guys once again, “Our bus suddenly started to make this horrible screeching noise. You might have heard it, it’s not exactly… quiet.”

Calum nods again, “Yeah, I, uh, heard it. Sounds pretty bad. So, you want me to take a look at it?”

Michael smiles, “If you could?”

Calum shrugs. “Yeah, sure, I’ll see what I can do for you.”

The guy in the suit, who had been quiet the whole time, suddenly speaks up again, “See what you can do? _See what you can do?_ You need to fix this, stat! We need to be in Sydney by tomorrow, it’s important, yeah? So get your butt moving and get this fixed as fast as you can!”

Calum frowns, because wow, _rude_.

Michael sighs, “Ashton, shut the fuck up.” He turns towards Calum again. “Don’t worry about him, he’s a bit stressed, like I said. We have an important thing tomorrow, you see, so yeah. But seriously, don’t worry. We’re glad you’d want to look at in the first place.” He says these last words with a glare in Ashton’s direction.

The guy in the suit, who is apparently names Ashton frowns, “Ok, fine, take your time. See if I care next time you need someone to get you out of the gutter, Clifford.” He spats before storming off. He goes to stand a few feet away from them, taking his phone out of his pocket and aggressively typing something in.

“Seems like a nice guy,” Calum dryly states and Michael sighs.

“He’s my best mate, really. He’s just… We’re not in a good place right now.” Michael says, absentmindedly, as he looks to where Ashton is furiously shouting at someone on the other end of the line.

“Yo, mate, you need anything? The keys? A hand?” The blond guy says, changing the subject.

Calum had kind of forgotten he was even there. “Uh, yeah, keys would be nice? I probably need to get under the hood for a bit, see what’s wrong. And uh, could you maybe drive it into the garage? I’ll make sure there’s enough room. It’s just, I have never driven a bus that big, so I’ll probably just make it worse, you know?”

The blond guy nods, “Sure, consider it done. I’m Niall by the way.” He smiles and turns around, heading back in the direction of the bus.

Calum turns towards Michael, who’s still sort of staring off into the distance. “Hey, I’m heading into the garage, you coming with? Or are you going back into the bus?”

Michael seems to shake himself from his thoughts and smiles at Calum, “Is it ok if I come with? I’ve spend a good amount of time on that bus, I could use a change of scenery.”

“Yeah, sure.” Calum heads off in the direction of the garage with Michael in tow.

Once inside he bustles around a bit to get everything set up for the bus, talks to his coworkers for a bit, explaining them what happened and discussing with them what might be wrong.

All the while, Michael  sort of putters around the garage. No-one really pays him any mind, since Calum said it was ok, he was with him. Right now he’s messing around with a few wrenches in the corner of the room, back to Calum.

Calum wants to go over to him to talk, because well, let’s be honest, Michael is incredibly hot and Calum would not mind one bit getting to know him better. But then Niall’s driving the bus inside and they have a short dilemma when it looks like the garage is too low to fit the bus inside, but eventually it turns out fine.

The other employee’s have heard the noise now too and they join Calum in a heated conversation about what could be the cause. Eventually Calum comes to the conclusion that the best way of figuring out what’s wrong would be if they actually took a look at the engine and see what’s going on.

So that’s how Calum ends up in front of the bus, the hood open, his overall zipped close again, staring at the engine.

“How’s it going? Did you know there are donuts in the canteen? They’re really good,” Michael suddenly says, popping up behind Calum.

Calum smiles at him, “Ah, so there you went. I wondered.”

Michael shrugs, “Yeah, it was getting a bit boring here, decided to do some exploring. You want a bite?” He’s holding a half eaten donut in front of Calum and Calum should probably decline because, well, it’s _half eaten._ But he’s hungry, all right, so he excepts the donut and takes a bite.

“Oh my god that’s so good,” he moans, and Michael laughs.

“If I’d known you were that hungry, I would’ve brought you more donuts. You are fixing my bus after all.”

“I was wondering about that,” Calum says, as he devours the last few bites of the donut, “This is obviously a tour bus, so I’m assuming you’re transporting a celebrity, right?”

Michael nods, “Yeah.”

“So?” Calum asks when Michael doesn’t elaborate, “Who is it?”

Michael burst out in laughter and Calum frowns, “What? What did I say?”

Michael stops laughing when he sees Calum’s face, “Oh no, you didn’t do anything wrong, it’s just. It’s me.”

“You?” Calum’s mouth basically drops, “You are the celebrity?”

“Yup,” Michael shrugs, “Michael Clifford, chart topping rock star, nice to meet you.”

“I, no, that’s not- But you’re so nice? And you gave me half your donut and you saved me from Ashton’s yelling and I just thought.. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you, you just.. You don’t seem like a celebrity, you know?” Calum stutters out and Michael smiles.

“Thanks, I try to keep myself grounded. I took the wrong road once, not too long ago actually, but I’m trying to be a better person now. I’m glad it’s working.”

Calum wants to ask what happened, what he means, but he doesn’t quite think he has reached that point in their acquaintanceship yet. So instead he nudges Michael’s shoulder, “Hey, you want to help?”

Michael frowns, “Can I do that?”

Calum smiles, “Why not? I’ll get you an overall.”

\--

So, Michael ‘helping’ him basically means that Calum has his head buried in the engine to see what’s wrong and Michael’s rolling around on Calum’s dolly, the wooden plank on wheels he normally uses to look under cars.

It’s fun though. They make small talk, Calum tells him about his life as a mechanic and Michael tells a few cool stories about thing that happened to his and his band on tour. Calum finds he’s actually enjoying himself a lot. Michael’s really fun company to have.

“These overalls are so comfortable. Do you think I could convince Ashton to let me wear these on stage? Would that be weird?” Michael says, softly bumping the dolly against the back of Calum’s calves.

“You might.” Calum mumbles, not really paying attention, “Who’s Ashton to you anyway? Because you said he was your best friend, but he seems more like a manager?”

“He’s a bit of both, actually. We’ve spend a lot of time together, we’ve been to a lot. Somewhere along the way he became my best friend. He’s the only one in the business who I know truly cares for me, you know. He was the only one who was there when-“ Michael suddenly pauses, “Never mind.”

Calum doesn’t push it. “So, what kind of music do you play?”

Michael scrunches up his nose. “Like, punk? But like with rock influences. And a bit of pop sometimes. And one time I did a heavy metal song that was a lot of fun.”

“Sounds like something I would listen to,” Calum hums, when he suddenly spots something tucked away deep in the inner working of the engine, “Oh my god.”

“What, what is it?” Michael says, jumping up and standing next to Calum to peer in the engine.

“I found the culprit,” Calum says, as he reaches down in the engine and pulls something out with his wrench.

“Oh god, that’s gross,” Michael says, turning away.

It’s a rat. A very dead, very bloody rat.

“Seems like the rat was blocking some parts of the engine, which caused the screeching noise. I won’t go into much detail, but it should be pretty easy to fix now. How late do you have to be wherever you need to be tomorrow?”

Michael side eyes the rat, that’s still hanging limply over the wrench in Calum’s hand. “Not until the evening. I have a concert then. It’s the, uh, first concert of my comeback tour.”

“Comeback? But I thought you were famous already?” Calum says, frowning.

Michael sighs. “You know what? I’ll tell you about everything that happened if you get rid of the rat. It stinks like shit and it looks fucking gross man.”

Calum nods, “All right, deal.”

\--

Ten minutes later the rat is gone and Calum’s buried in the engine again. He’s checking if any parts need to be replaced while Michael rolls around on the dolly again.

“So, uh, it started awhile back, really? You know, I had just gotten big and the rock star live, it’s wild man. It’s all parties and drugs and alcohol and shit man, that stuff’s hard to resist when they practically shove it down your throat. Anyway, I stayed away from it, because of my mom, mostly. She was so proud that I made it and I wanted to make her even more proud, you know? Stay away from the bad stuff, be a good boy, make momma proud. But then,” Michael takes a shaky breath, “ Then she died.”

“Oh shit man, I’m so sorry,” Calum says, retreating his head from the engine to send Michael a sincere look.

Michael shrugs. “I’ve come to peace with it, now. But back then. She was the only thing keeping me on the right path. Without her… Things went bad. Drugs, alcohol, you name it, I did it. I don’t remember much of that period, it’s all a blur of parties and concerts and hotel rooms and a different boy or girl in my bed every night. It was a mess. _I_ was a mess. And it got worse. One night I just… I went to a party and shit went really, really bad. I got, I think it was alcohol poisoning? Or something from the wrong combination of drugs and alcohol? I don’t even know what it was, you should ask Ashton, he knows. He was there, in the hospital.” He pauses for a moment and plucks at a loose thread of his jeans.

“Anyway, the media found out. It was all over the news. They love that shit you know. They don’t give a shit about your next album, they don’t care about the rise. They only care about the fall. And I fell. Pretty fucking hard. When the hospital released me Ashton got me into rehab. Spend a good chunk of time there. I’m clean now. Have been for awhile. I’m good, too. I’m not as upset about my mom’s death anymore. I think I’ve accepted it. I don’t know, I just, I miss here, still. But it’s gotten easier. I realized drugs and alcohol wasn’t the solution, so. Tomorrow night I have my first big concert after my recovery, that’s why it’s such a big deal. It’s going to look bad if I’m late, you know, like I still don’t fully have my shit together. That’s why Ashton’s so on the edge about this. He just wants me to do good, you know. He wants me to be happy.”

Calum can’t help himself. Michael’s sitting there, on the dolly, looking all sad and Calum can’t help but lean down and pull Michael in a hug. He’s a hugger, doesn’t know how to solve thing other than with hugs, so that’s what he does. The position is awkward, Calum crouched and Michael trying not to roll away, but they sit there, in silence for awhile, Michael burying his head in Calum’s shoulder and Calum soothingly rubbing Michael’s back. It’s nice.

When they pull away, Michael smiles at him, “Thanks. I needed that.”

Calum smiles back. “I know.”

“I don’t know why I told you all that, I just, I needed to get it off my chest, you know? I mean, everybody thinks they know the story of what happened, but no one knows what _really_ happened. Besides Ashton, no one knows the real story. I just, I trust you, is that weird? I just met you and you pulled a dead rat out of my bus’ engine, but I trust you. You’re a nice dude, Calum.”

Calum can’t help but beam at Michael, “Thanks, I think you’re pretty cool too. And don’t worry, I’ll keep it between us, yeah?”

“Hey, you want another donut?” Michael says, changing the subject and Calum nods.

“Absolutely.”

\--

He manages to fix the bus an hour later. He stretches it a bit, enjoys the company of Michael way too much to let go yet, but eventually he has to admit he’s done. He’d feel even more bad if he let Michael come late to his concert on purpose.

When Ashton hears the bus is  he nearly cries and pulls Calum into a hug . Calum’s a bit surprised, but after hearing Michael’s story, he understands. Ashton just wants Michael to be happy.

After that it’s a flurry of getting ready and packing up and arranging stuff and before Calum knows it he’s been paid and everybody’s getting back on the bus.

“So,” Michael says. He’s the last person to get back on the bus and Niall’s impatiently honking his horn behind them.

“So,” Calum whispers. He’d been dreading this moment. The moment he had to say goodbye. Even though it’s only been an afternoon, he’d really gotten to know Michael and he really, _really_ likes the guy.

He knows when Michael leaves, he’ll have to go back to his boring old life. Michael brought more adventure and fun to his afternoon than he normally gets in an entire _month._

“I had a lot of fun, you know. I just, thank you. For listening, for fixing the bus, everything.” Michael sounds so sincere and he’s smiling at Calum and Calum melts a little bit.

“No problem. I had a lot of fun too.”

Niall honks his horn again and Michael flips him off. “I have to go, yeah? But just, give me your phone.”

Calum frowns, confused, but hands Michael his phone anyway. Michael types a few things and hands it back. “My number. Text me, yeah?”

Calum should probably say something, like ‘thanks’ or ‘yeah I will’ but nothing comes out and all he can do is smile brightly. Can you blame him though, an incredibly hot rockstar just handed him his phone number. Michael wants to stay in touch with him.

_Michael wants to stay in touch with him._

“Bye, Calum,” Michael says and suddenly he’s leaning forward and pressing a kiss to Calum’s cheek and Calum smiles so wide he’s scared he’ll split his own face in two.

“Bye, Michael. Good luck at your concert tomorrow.”

And then Michael’s gone and the bus is driving off and Calum watches after them until they’ve disappeared in the distance.

Well, that’s definitely a story he can tell at the table during Christmas dinner. And who knows, maybe Michael will be there telling it with him.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr [here](http://skatertotluke.tumblr.com)


End file.
